Fertilizer distributor



4 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

H. H. MExNcKE FEBTILZER DISTRIBUTOR Filed Aug. 3.4,l 1944 April 1,1941,

April 1, 194'?. H. H. MEINCKE FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR 4 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Aug. 14, 1.944

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FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR Filed Aug. '14; 1944 4 sheets-sheet 4 l ./111116111111 A n\\\ Mr/1111111111 A f7 f zzz 221921505@ /0 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 1, 17947 UNITED STATES PATENT olfrlcEY FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR Henry H. Meincke, Howey In The Hills, F1a. Application August 14, 1944, Serial No. 549,348

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an apparatus designed primarily for distributing fertilizer, although obviously it might be used for distributing other comminuted or granular materials.

In practice the present invention has been found particularly adaptable for use in distributing commercial fertilizer in orchards. An object of the invention is to provide simple and efficient means for regulating the volume or poundage of material over a predetermined area.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel steps in the method and certain details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the method disclosed and in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a View partly in top plan View and partly in section showing a pair of distributing disks and the means employed for supplying material thereto.

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2 2, Figure 1, the distributing disks being shown in elevation.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 3 3, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged view partly in elevation and partly in section showing the feed control mechanism constituting one unit.

Figure 5 is a section through the lower portion of the unit, said section being on the line 5-5, Figure 4, the upper portion of the unit being shown in elevation.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of one of the agitating fins.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference I designates a hopper mounted on a supporting structure. This hopper can be of any suitable size and in the present instance is provided with a bottom plate 3 having spaced outlet openings 4 dened by depending flanges 5.

The supporting structure 2 is formed with bearing brackets 6 which are extended into lxedly supported funnels 1, each of which has a discharge spout 8 at the lower end thereof.

Journaled in each of the brackets 6 is a stud 9 preferably formed integral with and extended downwardly from a cup lil which is concentric with and bolted or otherwise joined to the bottom surface of a disk II. This disk has a central opening I2 registering with the interior of the cup I Il and surrounding the opening and extending upwardly therefrom is a housing section I3 having a central opening I4 in the top thereof. Thus the housing section I3 and the cup I0 cooperate to form a casing I5. The disk II is positioned close to the lower edge of the adjacent flange 5 and is concentric with the flange. Said disk has an upwardly extended rim IG and an annular series of gear teeth are provided on the rim as shown at I l'.

Diametrically opposed openings i8 are formed in the disk and hingedly connected to the disk at one end of each opening isa flat Valve or deflecting blade lil each extended away from its hinge in the direction of rotation of the disk. The hinge pin 2Q of each blade is secured to the blade so as to move therewith and each of these hinge pins is `iournaled in the wall of casing I5 and has a crank arm 2| secured thereto and extended downwardly within casing I5. As shown in Figures 4 and 5 these crank arms of the opposed deflecting blades I9 are at opposite sides of a sleeve 22 which is slidably mounted on a rod 23 the lower end of which is anchored in the stud S as shown at 24. The lower portion of the sleeve has spaced annular collars 25 forming a groove 26 therebetween and extended into this groove are pins 2l extended from the respective crank arms 2i. As the crank arms areinclined as shown in Figure 5 and the pins 21 are at all times away from a dead center relative to pins 2l), it will be obvious that when the sleeve 22 is slid upwardly on rod 23 the arms 2I will be swung in such a direction as to move the blades ld upwardly. Downward movement of sleeve 22 will result in the blades I9 swinging downwardly. Thus the positions of these blades can be readily and quickly changed simply by shifting the sleeve on rod 23.

The upper end of each sleeve 22 is siidably mounted on a bracket 28 xedly joined to a portion of 'the supporting structure 29 which, with the structure 2 heretofore referred to, can form a part of the body of a fertilizer distributing machine or the like. A collar 3i! having an annular groove 3i is carried by 'the upper portion of sleeve 22 and extended into opposed portions of the collar are pins 32 carried by a fork 33 which loosely straddles the collar Sii. This fork is formed at one end of a lever 34 fulcrumed, las

at 35 on the base 36 of a bracket 31. An arm 38 is pivotally'joined to the upper end of the bracket as indicated at 39 and has a depending longitudinally slotted segment 48 concentric with the pivot 39 and movably mounted within a recess 4I in lever 34. A pin 42 bridges the recess and is mounted in the lever and this pin is extended loosely through the slot 43 in the segment 40.

A handle 44 is xedly connected to and extends away from the arm 38 and by means thereof said arm can be swung on a pivot 39 to raise or lower the arm 38 and the slotted segment 49. This action will, of course, result in the segment raising or lowering the pins 32 and the collar 3B with the result that motion will be transmitted through the sleeve 22 and crank arms 2l to the blades I9 which will be raised or lowered. The extent of movement in each of the segmental members 40 can be determined by means of graduations t formed on the slotted segment. Upward movement of the sleeve 22 on the rod 23 can be limited by nuts 86 constituting stops.

The gear teeth I1 mesh with a driven gear l1 geared to the upper end of a shaft 48 suspended within a bearing 49 and provided at its lower end with a broadcasting or distributing disk 49. This disk is provided on its upper surface with `radial iins 59 and the disk is so located that the peripheral portion thereof moves directly beneath the outlet spout 8 located beneath one of the funnels 1.

In the structure illustrated two disks I I have been provided each with its delivery funnel and spout and two of the scattering disks 49 have been used, one for each funnel 8. Each disk II drives a gear 41 and the two disks Il, in turn, are driven by an intermediate or drive gear 5I carried b-y a drive shaft 52 receiving power from any suitable source.

Formed on or secured to the top surface of each of the disks II are opposed arcuate i'lns 53, the upper edge of each i-ln being formed with teeth 54 so positioned that as the disk rotates in one direction, these teeth will plow into and through bulk material piled on the disk so as to break it up and prepare it for delivery, Any desired number of these toothed fins or breakers can be used on each disk and they are preferably located between the openings in the disks.

In practice the material to be delivered is deposited in the hopper I and will gravitate to Vopenings 4 onto the respective disks II. By shifting handle 44 the slotted segments 40 can be actuated to move the sleeves 22 upwardly or downwardly, thereby to raise or lower the blades or valves I9. The rotating gear 5I will drive the two disks II and these, in turn, will operate the disks 49'. As the disks I I rotate in the direction in which the blades i9 are extended, it will be apparent that these blades will cut through the bulk material and deflect it downwardly through the openings I8 from which it will fall into the funnels 1 to the spouts 8 and thence on to the rapidly rotating disks 49'. Here the blades 59 will throw the material outwardly so that it will be distributed as desired.

Obviously, the amount of material delivered through the disks will be controlled by the adjustment of the blades I9 and this amount can be determined by referring to the graduations 45 on the segments 40.

What is claimed is:

1. A distributor for fertilizer or the like, including a rotatable disk positioned to support bulk 4 material and having a discharge aperture therethrough, a distributing disk positioned to receive material discharged through the openingmeans for transmitting motion betweenV the disks, means for driving one of the disks, a deflector on the apertured disk adjacent to the opening therein, and means for adjusting the deector toward or from the plane ofrotation of the apertured disk during the rotation of the disks, said deector being positioned to deflect downwardly through the apertured disk the bottom portion of the bulk material supported on the disk.

2. A distributor for fertilizer or the like including a container having a bottom outlet, a disk mounted for rotation at the outlet and having an aperture, a deiiecting blade hingedly connected to the disk and overlying the aperture, said blade being extended in the direction of rotation of the disk and mounted for swinging movement toward and from the plane of rotation of the apertured disk, a rod rotatable with the disk, a sleeve slidably mounted thereon, and means operated by the sliding movement of the sleeve for swinging the blade toward or from the disk while the disk is rotating.

3. A device of the class described including a container for bulk material having a, bottom outlet, a rotatable diskbelow and coaxial with the outlet, said disk having openings, toothed tins on the disk between the openings, constituting breakers, deflecting blades hingedly connected to the disk between the ns and overlying the respective openings, and means for simultaneously swinging the blades toward or from the openings during the rotation of the disk, said ns being positioned to break up bulk material' in the plane of movement of the blades with the disk.

4. A device of the class described including a container for bulk material having a bottom outlet, a rotatable disk below and coaxial with the outlet, said disk having openings, toothed ns on the disk between the openings, constituting breakers, deflecting blades hingedly connected to the disk between the ns and overlying the respective openings, said blades being mounted to swing toward or from the plane of rotation of the disk and means for simultaneously swinging the blades from the disk during the rotation of the disk thereby to deflect downwardly the bottom portion of the bulk material above the disk, said means including a central casing on the disk, crank arms therein connected to the pivot ends of the respective blades, a sleeve slidable in the casing and coaxial with the disk, said sleeve having an annular groove, means on the arms projecting into the groove, and means for raising and lowering the sleeve to shift the arms.

5. A device of the class described including a container for bulk material having a bottom outlet, a rotatable disk below and coaxial with the outlet, said disk having openings, toothed iins on the disk between the openings, constituting breakers, deflecting blades hingedly connected to the disk between the iins and overlying the respective openings, said blades'being mounted to swing toward or from the plane of rotation of the disk, the toothed ns being positioned in the plane of rotation of the blades, therebyto break up bulk material in the path of rotation of the blades and means for simultaneously swinging the blades from the diskduring the rotation of thedisk, said means including a central casing on the disk, crank arms therein connected to the hinge ends of the respective blades, a rod coaxialv withthe disk andv casing and extending thereabout,` a

sleeve slidable on the rod and in the casing, and cooperating means in the casing and on the sleeve and arms for shifting the arms during the rotation of the sleeve when the sleeve is moved longitudinally.

6. A device of the class described including a container for bulk material having a bottom outlet, a rotatable disk below and coaxial with the outlet, said disk having openings, toothed iins on the disk between the openings, .constituting breakers, deecting blades hingedly connected to the disk between the fins for up and down movement relative to the plane, of rotation of the disk and overlying the respective openings, said blades being mounted to swing toward or from the plane of rotation of the disk, the toothed ns being positioned in the plane of rotation of the blades, thereby to break up bulk material in the path of rotation of the blades, and means for simultaneously swinging the blades from the disk during the rotation of the disk, said means including a central casing on the disk, crank arms therein connected to the hinge ends of the respective blades, a rod coaxial with the disk and casing and HENRY H. MEINCKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS L Number Name Date 2,102,619 Francis Dec. 21, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 391,691 France Sept. 3l, 1908 

